The M Word
by TheZygomaticArch
Summary: While at a crime scene, Brennan overhears Booth refer to her as his "wife", which brings to surface a subject both partners had been trying to avoid. Set in the current season, post baby.
1. Early in the Hours

So I had originally decided to write this story... but then I got busy and made it part of a collection of one shots... but NOW I'm actually ready to start writing it.

Its going to be my first story that will actually deal with a case as well... but the case will be relevant to what is happening in their personal lives too. Anyway, I've never quite done a story like this so I really hope you review it and let me know how its going...

I don't own Bones:)

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Exhausted was an understatement as they fell into bed that night. The week behind them had been extra busy for both the FBI and Jeffersonian, but the real chaos came in the form of a small baby girl sleeping just down the hall. Taking care of their new born was a labor of love, but this week in particular, the new parents were really feeling the labor.

Brennan had only been back to work for two weeks and was quickly discovering the transition wasn't nearly as easy as she had predicted. Between the separation anxiety of leaving her child at daycare everyday and demands of her job, she wasn't quite back to functioning at her normal standards. Actually, she was just happy to be functioning at all. For his part, Booth was doing his best to play super dad. After watching Brennan carry their child for nine months and having been limited in Parker's infant life, Booth was determined to fully participate in all parental duties this time around. However, as with the woman sleeping next to him, he was running on empty. Their life had become an array of dead corpse and dirty diapers with little to no sleep inbetween.

Tonight, though, if by the grace of God or some scientific product- their daughter was sleeping through the night.

Or at least she had been until four in the morning; when the slightest sigh came across on the baby monitor on the night stand. The sigh was then quickly followed by a loud wailing and in no time Christine wasn't the only one awake.

"Do you love me?" Brennan rolled over to Booth side; still half asleep.

Booth looked at her tired eyes but wasn't completely sure he wanted to play this game, "You want me to prove it to you?"

"If you're not to sleepy..." Brennan couldn't even fully get the words out before another mighty cry interrupted her. "She's hungry. There are some bottles in the fridge I just pumped last night. Get it."

"You get it," Booth knew this was a losing battle but he tried anyway.

"No, you get it," and with that Brennan pulled the blanket off of him; exposing him to the cold air.

Booth sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Fine. I get it."

He wandered down to the kitchen of their new home like a zombie and prepared a bottle for his daughter. Initially, they had agreed to take turns with getting up with Christine, but somewhere along the line they had lost the order. Now it was a match of who could come up with the best argument or who was feeling the most generous. The worst part was the actual getting out of bed, once they had made it to their daughter's nursery and calmed her down, it wasn't to bad. She was a beautiful baby, and more importantly she was theirs.

"Bones, what are you doing?" When Booth got to Christine's room he hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped crying. She was already nestled closely in her mother's arms and being cradled by the rocking chair.

"I needed to pump, so I thought I would just feed her," Her eyes met with Booth's. It was hard to tell if he was frustrated or happy with her, "You can go back to sleep..."

It was a tempting offer, but he decided to pass, "Nah, you know I'm already up. I can stay with you."

She smiled, "Thank you."

"To prove I love you and all..." He lightly jabbed before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"I love you, too."

"I was talking to Christine," He teased her some more before placing a light peck on her lips. "I love you."

It still made Brennan's stomach flip a little to hear him say that; she thought she would have been used to it by now as he told her at least once a day. Still it excited her, though, almost has much as it excited her to say it back. That part she was proud to have become routine. No hesitation or nerves, just love.

Once she was done feeding Christine, they settled her back in her bassinet and made their way back to the bedroom. It was still early enough that they could grab at least another two hours of sleep before having to be ready for work. But before they could even crawl back under the covers, their cellphones buzzed almost simultaneously.

"We got a body..." Booth couldn't remember the last time he was so unenthused about a case.

"Do we have to go now?" Only a couple weeks ago, these words would have never come out of her mouth. Not with possibility that her crimes scene or body could be disturbed. "What do we do about Christine? The Jeffersonian daycare facility isn't open yet..."

"Well... one of us can go now and the other can stay with Christine and catch up later."

"Okay," Brennan got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Bones. Where are you going?"

"I'm getting ready," Brennan turned on the shower. "The Jeffersonian Daycare facility technically opens at seven, but you can probably take her a little early. And make sure you bring all the bottles in the refrigerator with you, that should last her the day and then-"

"No, Bones. No. No deal. I'm going to the crime scene. You're on daycare duty."

"What? Why?"

"Because I have to interview witnesses that's why. I'll call Cam and she'll take care of the crime scene," Booth began doing his best to herd her out of the bathroom.

"If the FBI needed Cam's expertise they would have requested her services, but they specifically asked for mine. You do the daycare duty."

"Bones. FBI crimes scene. I'm FBI."

"Fine. Then lets just take Christine with us then." It seemed like the rational practical move.

"Take our daughter to a crime scene? Bones are you crazy? You want our daughter seeing that kind of stuff?"

"Booth, she'll be fine. We can take turns watching her."

"Our two month old is not seeing a dead body, Bones."

"I'll make sure she is not in any significant proximity to the remains, Booth."

"...Fine."

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So there is the first chapter. Second one will follow shortly:)

Please please review.

Reviews let me know that people are reading and enjoying- thus I find more motivation to keep updating!


	2. Baby at the Crime Scene

Okay, and now here is your chapter 2!

Let's kick this story off!

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They arrived at their crime scene just as dawn was starting to break; an outdoor amphitheater in the the downtown DC area. Apparently the local regional theatre was producing a ballet production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth when a body had been discovered hidden in a sewage pipe under the stage. Brennan instantly suited up and went to join Hodgins and Cam with the body.

"Dr. Brennan?" Cam looked up from the remains to see her forensic anthropologist approaching. "What are you doing here? Where's Christine?"

"She's with Booth," Brennan stated very matter of fact as she squatted next to the body. It was muddy and smelled of mold among other things, it had probably been rotting there for a week at least. "I should rather ask why you are here, Dr. Saroyan. There is hardly any flesh left on this body."

"Well, I assumed with the daycare not being opened yet, you would be unable to make it. I thought I would come and supervise for you."

"Why would I have been unable to make it to the crime scene?" Brennan looked at her concerned. "Just because I am now a mother does not mean that I will be suddenly slacking in my professional responsibilities."

Cam sighed. It was entirely to early for this. She had woken up, unnecessarily early, in an extent of kindness to her friends... but of course there would be no gratitude. "It was my mistake, Dr. Brennan. I'm sorry."

"The victim is female... and judging by the newly erupted molars, I would say early to mid twenties..." Brennan smiled proudly, "I am quite capable of continuing my work as well as being a mother. I am very accomplished."

"Yes... yes you are," Cam smiled back and gritted her teeth.

Hodgins looked up from the bugs he'd been gathering to fully see the tension between the two women and decided to try and defuse it, "So Booth get's to sleep in while you had to get up early this morning? Sorry, Dr. B, but you got the bad end of that deal."

"Oh no. Booth is here too. He's waiting for me by the car with Christine to question the witnesses," Brennan stood and took off her gloves. "There is to much mud for me to give much more than basic preliminary findings and I need to get back to Christine. Dr. Saroyan, if you could supervise the transport?"

Hodgins and Cam exchanged a look, "Yes... I can do that."

Brennan nodded and turned to leave, unknowing of the smirks and laughs she left behind her.

"Don't even..." Cam warned.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. . . . . ... .. .. .

Booth and Christine had stayed behind back at the car, although they were hardly alone. Gathered around the both of them were at least ten young and slender ballerinas.

"Oh my God!"

"She's is just the cutest most precious thing!"

"Look at her... she's so smiley!"

Booth looked down at his daughter in her car seat beaming, "She's smart too! Only a couple weeks old and she's already winking."

A collective "aww" came from the ballerinas

"I bet she's a daddy's girl."

"Well..." Booth blushed.

"And look at those eyes! They so blue!"

"They're so pretty!"

Booth smiled softly at his daughter, "Yeah... she's got my wife's eyes..."

"I"m not your wife," Suddenly all attention left Christine and was now on the woman in the jumpsuit approaching. "Why are you telling these young women that I'm your wife?"

"I um..." Booth stumbled and watched as all the ballerina's now glared at him. Who was this guy? Was that even his daughter? They all turned and walked away quietly whispering to each other.

Brennan ignored them all and unbuttoned her jumpsuit so she could hold her daughter, "The victim is female and in her early twenties. Very tall. The body is too covered in mud to tell much more than that. I'm having Cam supervise the transportation."

"Okay, so probably a ballerina. I'll go ask around and see if anyone from there company is missing," Booth made a move to leave. Maybe if he left now he wouldn't have to explain the slip he just made.

"That's just conjecture, Booth. Isn't it Christine?" Brennan grinned and picked up her daughter. "Booth, Could you hand me a cloth? She needs to be fed again."

"Right, yeah..." Booth quickly grabbed the diaper bag and handed her a towel. Usually he hated it when she breastfed in public, but it meant getting out of talking about what had just happened- so be it. "Here you go, Bones."

"Thank you," She leaned Christine down to her waiting breast. "Booth?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you-"

"Listen, Bones. I really need to get over there and start asking some questions so if you're good here, I need to get on that," It was like Booth couldn't get away from her fast enough.

Brennan watched him go. She wasn't good at reading awkward situations but she certainly recognized this as one of them. His wife. Why did he say that? Clearly they were not married or even engaged...

... ... ... ... . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... .. . . . . ...

For the first time in a long time, Booth wanted to talk about nothing else but the case on the drive to the Jeffersonian. Usually, he'd want to talk about food, the baby, or their evening plans- but today he was all business. Any other day, this would have been a welcome change to Brennan, she enjoyed their back and forth over cases. However, now it was just making her nervous.

"It has to be one of the ballerinas," Booth kept his eyes unusually focused on the road.

"You interviewed all of them as well as the choreographer and director of the show. They said that everyone in the company was accounted for."

"Well maybe they're covering for each other."

"Booth..." she narrowed her eyes on him.

"I know. I know. Conjecture. I get it. I'm just trying to find a lead..."And he was trying to keep control over their conversation.

"You seem very agitated," She decided to tred lightly.

Booth huffed. Here they go, "Well, you know. There's a murderer out there. Possibly multiple murderers out there, you know? That makes me agitated."

"Is this because I overheard you lie to the ballerinas about our relationship?"

He glanced over to her for the first time since they had left the crime scene. It was a quick look but he could see anxiety and dread in her eyes. Why had he said that this morning? "It was nothing, Bones. It was just an accident."

"An accident?" It was a very very odd thing to accidentally say.

"Yeah."

"Do you make this 'accident' often?" She pushed.

Booth could feel his heartbeat quicken. Did he make this 'accident' often? Yes. Yes he did. At least once a week he made this mistake. Every chance he got he made this same 'accident'... which made it not an accident at all. "No, Bones. I don't." He lied.

"Oh."

"Just a mistake, Bones. You know, early hour an all."

"Well then I forgive you," she reached cross the console and squeezed his hand; hopefully putting him at ease.

"Thanks, Bones." He squeezed her hand back. They were okay. The conversation seemed to be over.

Still... there was a small... almost undetectable bitterness in his voice.

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So I hope you like this set up. Clearly this conversation is not over...

Please review!


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